/ Source: Reuters
The German city of Cologne is resorting to a “sex tax” on brothels to boost its revenue after national reforms left local authorities short of cash.
City authorities confirmed Friday they were extending the existing “pleasure tax” -- already levied on casinos and amusement arcades -- to brothels, erotic massage parlors and table-dancing clubs.
Cologne expects to triple its pleasure tax revenue, Inge Schuermann, a city spokeswoman told Reuters.
“This is about making taxes fair but also because we are more than up to our necks in financial problems,” she said, shortly after Germany’s parliament approved the country’s biggest welfare shake-up in decades.